Three, Two, One
by Arwana13
Summary: Their division was always more than just North and South. This is story of Lovino Vargas, his beginnings, his ends and the moments in between (not necessarily in that order.)


**The Sacrifice AU goes a little like this- it's based on the belief that the first personifications (Rome, Egypt, Native America, Scandinavia, etc.) all had these powers...special powers that normal people could not use. When they died and their land was inherited by their children, one of those children received powers kind of like that, but as a result had something very precious ripped away from them. I tried this out in the original fic 'Sacrifice' with Canada as the sacrifice of Native America, and now thought that I'd write one with Lovino as the sacrifice of Rome.**

**In 'Sacrifice,' I mentioned that Lovino's power included control of his darkness, a.k.a. he would not be affected by the evil which the minds of the people who he represented possessed. As a result, he lost the ability to talk to any other personification normally, too disgusted by how easily they could lose their minds. This is just me building on that.**

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><p><strong>Act I<strong>

**Scene I**

The man sighed. The town had been the same when he had gone there, but he still could not shake off a feeling of..._something going wrong_.

"Still the same feeling?" his wife asked.

The man hesitated before nodding quickly. "It' strange," he confessed. "There has been no news of any plagues or barbarians in these parts, yet I feel as though I should be on guard."

His wife looked concerned. She took a deep breath before laying her hand on top of her beloved's. "My love," she paused. "There are sometimes strange feelings that we disregard, instincts that we should follow. Omens like this should never be overlooked."

Any other time, he would have scoffed at his chosen's words, laughed at her beliefs in something bigger looking down at them. Now however, he found that he could not.

He slept a restless sleep that night.

The next night, he and his family packed important necessities and kept them by the door.

The night after that, they took hold of those objects and met a few friends in the town square. They arranged for a horse cart, put their children and belongings on it and started walking as fast as they could.

A few days after, a city 20 miles from theirs was buried in ash and lava.

Vesuvius had exploded.

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><p>The group did not stop even once in their travels, and rested only when they got to Surrentum, where they somehow <em>knew<em> that they would be safe. The community welcomed them, hailed them as survivors of a great tragedy, asked them to thank the gods for their luck. None of them told the people that luck had nothing to do with it.

One day, as the man was out to help in the welcoming of more people, this time, injured, he spotted a peculiar curl and froze. A brown haired child sat on the wall of the town, watching the people at work. Someone called for the man but he did not move. He knew those eyes.

Noticing the chaos, the boys eyes met him. Recognition filled them. A single nod was given to the man before the boy leapt off the wall.

"Are you alright?" the person who had been calling him asked.

"Ah, yes," the man replied, breaking out of his trance.

The townsperson looked suspicious, but let it slide. There was an unspoken rule that the survivors were allowed to be a little strange.

"Who was that boy?" he asked later, when they were about to go home to have food.

"Bah, some general's grandson," the other replied. "Don't know how he got out today, without his usual army of guards, that is. He is a strange boy, brother. His entire family is strange. It will be best if you forget about them."

The man tried. His instinct told him not to. So he did not.

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><p>Lovino raised a shaky hand to his mouth and wiped the blood off his chin. One look in the mirror told him that that would not be enough. He grabbed a soft cloth from nearby and gargled using the water from a canteen, wiping his face to prevent the blood from dripping down.<p>

The last thing he needed was his guard discovering the blood on his clothes.

Nonno was away with Feliciano, hence his added security. Normally, he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, what with his Grandfather not giving a fuck and his guard more often than not assisting him in his adventures. But ever since Pompeii...

"Lord Romano?" the knock came on his door. "We will be having dinner in some time."

Lovino let out a quiet curse under his breath. "No thank you, Aelia. I think that I will just sleep now."

"My lord...," the lady behind the door paused before sighing. "Very well. Oh, and Romano?"

"What is it?"

"I know that you are worried about your people after what has happened...but next time, _please_ don't go out on your own, okay?" she said, concern filtering through her tone.

Lovnio paused mid-way in keeping the towel down. "I'll try."

Another pause, another sigh. "Alright."

Lovino heard her footsteps as they faded and sighed himself. He would need to keep an eye out for his overprotective guardians for the next month, that was sure. With that thought, he slipped into his bed, wincing as his aching body protested to the movement.

His sleep was restless.

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><p><em>Shadows surrounded him as he lifted the burning torch that was there in his hands to get a better view of the place he was in. Not for the first time, the southerner cursed his short height.<em>

_"__**You have done well, young one**__," a voice whispered from behind him._

_Lovino whipped backed, thrusting out his short hands to the best of his ability. "Who is there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"_

_Before his eyes, the shadows solidified, soon taking the form of a wolf with black fur and silver eyes. It was about 3 times his size. 'She,' Lovino corrected himself. He blinked. 'How the fuck did I know that?'_

_The she-wolf took a step forward, leaving the brunet to scramble backwards in fear. "__**Do not fear me, child of my soul. I will never harm one who has won the approval of the shadows of my land.**__"_

_"Who are you?" Lovino asked again, proud that his voice did not show the fear that he felt inside. "What do you want from me?"_

_The wolf's expression did not change on the outside, but somehow Lovino knew that she was smiling. "__**We did not expect such a thing from you now, my heart. The loyalty that you have shown your people is something that nations in their prime would not show."**_

_Still a bit wary, although he was much calmer than a normal person would be if they met a talking wolf, Lovino cautiously replied, "I just did what was right. And they are my Grandfather's people, not mine."_

_"__**Oh, but they are, little moon,**_**" **_the wolf replied, voice gentle and amused. "__**They are yours, just as much as the trees, the rocks, the exploding volcano that still leaves burns on your body, the debris which gives you a thousand cuts, the ash which chokes you, despite you never having been in it's presence. Well, physically, anyway.**__"_

_"Alright, what the fuck do you want?" Lovino shouted sharply, throwing all caution to the air._

_The she-wolf chuckled. "__**You have proven yourself, little moon, in the face of adversity, to be determined. You were able to cut your losses and 'to do the right thing.' Even grown, leaders are unable to follow through with that."**_

_"What is your point?" Lovino cut in._

_"__**My point,**__" the wolf spoke, her voice fierce, "__**is that now the choice is clear!**__" She turned her back to him, talking now to someone, __**something**_**, **_he could not see. "__**Now do you see why this one is the right choice?**__" Her tail swished furiously. From the corner of his eyes, he could see shadows writhing like the snakes in the hair of Medusa. The wolf's voice got even more fierce, a note of desperation sneaking in._

_"__**We do NOT need some who blots out the shadows with his light! We need someone whose willing to live in the dark! And this child,**__" she declared turning to Lovino, her silver eyes shining with...pride? What the fuck? "__**...the way he acted when he faced darkness...he embraced it!**__**Tell me, my brothers,**__" she said, with the voice of a queen, the mannerisms of a soldier and Lovino is quiet, eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched, because __fuck __he has __**never**__ had dreams like this, "__**why not him?**__"_

_He can feel it, feel them stop, freeze and he wants to scream, to demand to be told what is going on, but he stays silent. The silence is not comfortable, but not exactly uncomfortable, it is a weird mixture of fear and hope and Lovino __longs_ _something-something unknown , longs for the dark. _

_He was broken from his trance break a breeze. His torch flickered, the flames wavering. He watched dispassionately as the flames flared in the small gust of wind before a bigger one blows it out. It's funny how he notices his surroundings for the first time in pitch dark; they are in a forest. _

_He does not know these woods, or maybe he does. Maybe they were one of the numerous forests which he was not able to explore, not able to __know__ because of a domineering presence and 'This is not how a Grandson of Rome behaves,'; because of a cheerful persona driving away the predators, the ones he __**wanted**__ to meet, and 'Ve~ Lovi, I'm scared!' _

_He meets the wolf's gaze, shining silver, and the scant moonlight allows him to see the writhing shadows as they wrap around her body. Her eyes shine with approval and triumph, her teeth are shown in a snarl after a howl rips from her throat which echoes around the woods._

_He is not afraid. In fact, he is calmer, more at peace than he has ever been._

_"Who are you?"_

_The wolf's snarl drops as she takes a few steps towards him. Her eyes still bear the mark of victory, but now they are gentle, hesitant, even. She grows more confident as he does not step back, meets her eyes head on- gold and silver. She takes a deep breath before speaking, her voice soft. "__**You know me, moon of mine. You always have.**__"_

_Lovino keeps on looking in those silver orbs as his mind scrambled to connect the dots. A sharp intake of breath was heard before a shaking hand reaches to grab the area below his throat. He did not need to take the pendant out from his thin shirt to know what he would see, a silver wolf with eyes of gold. _

_"__**And remember, Feliciano, Lovino, that while this action allowed Rome to be born, we do not what would have happened if Romulus had not killed Remus. Perhaps Rome would have been stronger? Greater? As brothers, no matter what happens, I expect you to stand by each other."**_

_He takes shaky steps towards his wolf, one hand still clutching the amulet. The other hand reached out towards to beast. She bowed, her legs never bent, but her head went down slightly and she closed her eyes. Complete trust. If he wanted to, Lovino could take his still smouldering torch and thrust it into her._

_His hand landed on her muzzle. _

_"Lupa."_

_The great wolf bent her forelegs and opened her eyes. She smiled, showing wicked teeth and Lovino felt warmth for the first time in a long time. He closed his own eyes and remembered, his grandfather, him and Feli on either of his arms, a smile on his face, and a "Welcome to your home, my beloved children." He dropped out of the memory of once-warmth as his guardian spoke again._

_"__**If you will have me, my prince, I will be honoured to show you how to navigate the dark.**__"_

_Looking into his wolf's eyes, Lovino was silent. He did not need to speak. His answer was right there from the beginning._

* * *

><p>A few days earlier<p>

The man looked at the boy in his dream.

He was an ordinary boy. Sure, his clothes marked him as a rich one, but apart from that, there was nothing that special. He had brown hair and tanned skin, showing that despite his status, he was not one to remain in his bed all day. That curl was surely some stupid fashion that was going on in one of the bigger towns.

His eyes, though, intrigued him. Gold was a hard eye colour to find, after all.

"Brace yourselves," he spoke, his tone strange and sombre, "Something terrible is heading towards you."

He awakened and in the morning spoke to his wife and friends. Despite being unaware of any danger, no one dares challenge the conviction in his voice, the look of a determined man. By dawn, a group agrees.

They heeded the child's warning.

Few days later, those who did not would find their bodies drowning in ash.

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><p><strong>Scene II<strong>

"How could he?!"

Lupa watched her young ward pace the floor. His hair was in a disarray, his clothes rumpled and the tears were barely controlled by his eyes. A red handprint was still visible on his cheek.

She swallowed a growl as she remembered the scene, a tanned strong arm backhanding him, so hard in fact that he had been thrown to the floor. It did not matter how regretful the weary face of the empire who hit him looked, she still wanted to tear that hand off for touching _her_ child. Because honestly, he could _not_ be Lovino's anything. A belief further cemented when she crossed the man's bedroom mere moments after he banished his eldest to find him playing with the younger child.

"Those were _his_ people down there, Lupa!" Lovino's voice shook her. "His people, giving up their lives, sacrificing themselves to-to _**entertain**_ some bullshit emperor and he was fucking _laughing!_"

A pause, followed by the sound of pants. The tears finally overflew. The amber eyes turned to her, heartbroken, confused, _so impossibly young._

"How could he?"

Gods, how she loved this child.

_"Because the happiness of many outweighs the suffering of few. This is a harsh truth, I know, but it is one that most of the nations follow."_

"_**Bullshit!**_" Lovino snarled. "How could human deaths, or deaths of any kind for that matter, possibly bring **happiness**to anyone?!"

She wished she knew how to answer him.

"...that's what Feliciano is going to be like when he grows, isn't he?"

She didn't respond. He knew what she would have said anyway.

_**Yes.**_

"Even today," Lovino murmured, nearing a wall and slowly sliding down, "Even today, he was...there people in the arena, _dying,_ and ripping each other apart to fucking _live._..and he was just...sitting there, amongst the pretty girls and discussing recipes."

His voice was trembling. Tears were still present on his face. He looked sounded and acted _nothing_ like what a nation should be and she _loved_ it.

"Lupa...is that what I'm going to become when I grow?"

This had to stop.

"_Imagine living and loving people who you know will wither before you age...it's something which breaks the strongest of people_," Lupa answered cautiously.

The brunet looked up, his eyes filled with disgust. "So what?!" he exclaimed. "You just stop fucking _caring?!"_

The wolf sighed. "_Most of the time, yes._" She watched the younger fume before sighing once more. "_Not everyone is as strong as you, dear one,_" she spoke. "_Most people tend to block out the darkness._"

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Lovino froze, a fresh wave of tears coming in his eyes. "Yeah, some strength," he said bitterly, "I wasn't even able to shake Nonno's beliefs...nor was I able to make Feliciano see the truth. He laughed at me , Lupa, _laughed_ when I told him that watching our people kill each other was nothing to cheer over."

"_And you cannot blame yourself for that, love,_" the wolf replied quickly and firmly. "_The blindness which has set upon the personifications is not your fault. Rome is a great empire...but all great things must end, little moon. Do not forget that. They will all eventually fall into darkness, to allow greater things to rise._ _And so the cycle will run._"

"And will I be one of those great things, Lupa?" he smiled bitterly.

She could not lie to him. "_You will, dear one._"

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><p><strong>Scene III<strong>

He knew that he was supposed to feel something, sitting there the home that used to belong to his Grandfather.

Used to.

Lupa's word had come true (_like always...honestly, why did he even try to doubt her?) _He looked at the child sitting next to him (he had denounced him as his brother after the gladiator incident. There was no way in hell he was related to anyone so weak,) and frowned to see him trembling. Sighing sharply, he called a servant and asked him if he could bring a towel and some warm water please. Feliciano would have been surprised at the politeness he displayed. Except Feliciano wasn't really here right now.

((Blank brown eyes stared at the dying fire, the white pristine tunic stained with the blood of the brunet who had fallen to Germania's blade, as well as that of the aide that tried to change him out of his bloodied clothes. Lovino could feel it, just like he could feel the dissent that had broken out, the war that would soon approach. He could feel the madness in the prodigal son's eyes and wondered if he should start worrying.)

(Centuries later, at the dawn of the first war to _break_ the earth, at blood-soaked field in a land that was finally _his_, with the sound of thunder and death growing ever closer, he would wonder if he somehow inherited Lupa's ability to prophesize.)

_(He hadn't. A child of darkness could simply sense it's growth far too well.))_

He took the water and cloth from the aide who offered it and thanked him, asking him to leave. The hesitation shown by the human caused him to break out into a small smile, as he assured his citizen that he would be safe. When they were alone, he shut the door and turned to face the broken being sitting on the floor.

He dipped the cloth in the water before nearing the small form. Slowly, he sat next to him and brought the cloth to the younger boys face. Cautiously, he moved the cloth, removing the small droplets of blood present there, feeling a slight tinge of relief and concern when the action received no response.

_He'll come back when he wants to, little moon. Not everyone is as strong as you._

"Lovi?" a voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked into the dead eyes of the boy he was supposed to guard now.

"Yes, Feliciano," he replied, wringing the towel and wetting it again, "It's me, dumbass."

"What's going to happen to us?"

Lovino froze. It was the first time the younger boy had ever sounded so small, so...human. "You know what will happen, Feli," he replied, gently wiping the still slightly bloodied face. "You can feel it too, if you focus enough."

Feliciano fell silent, his eyes unfocusing. "You aren't going to leave, are you?" he whispered. "We need each other, Lovi, we're the brothers...of...Rome..."

Lovino stayed silent as Feliciano fell asleep. When he had lost consciousness, the elder stood up, unlocking the door and nodding to the aide still faithfully standing guard outside. "Take care of him," he muttered. "I'm going to be in my room."

_(Brothers of Rome? Did he actually believe that?)_

"Master Lovino?" a passing maid stopped him. "Do you need any assistance sir? "

"No, I'm fine."

He knew that he shouldn't be, but he was.

(It was strange how people would later think that Rome left with Feliciano when he knew that his fall was near. Almost as strange as the morning when Lovino woke late to his people telling him that his Grandfather had decided to use a period of relative quiet and prosperity to allow Feliciano to meet the other country personification, leaving all of Rome's responsibility to his eldest.)

(Rome was at its peak then. That was just a holiday. One that the two of them never returned from.)

(The next time he saw his grandfather was at the field where he had his stomach pierced and slowly _(but surely, surely)_ died.)

He should have felt sorry when he saw his Grandfather die. But all he felt was this emptiness. Something (he wasn't sure what yet) had ended.

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><p><em>((Not everyone is as strong as you, little one.)<em>

_(He didn't know what this was, but it sure as fuck wasn't strength.)_

_(His own apathy scared him.))_

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><p><strong>Scene I- The explosion of Vesuvius.<strong>

**Scene II- Gladiators, entertainers of Rome.**

**Scene III- The fall of Rome.**

**I know it might be weird, but stay with me. Read and review guys,**

**Until next time,**

**Love,**

**Arwana13**


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